Models of muscle pain: carrageenan model and acidic saline model.

Carrageenan or acidic saline injected unilaterally into the gastrocnemius muscle or triceps muscle produces a robust and long-lasting hyperalgesia in rats and mice, which is reversible with systemic administration of opioid or anti-inflammatory drugs. This unit describes detailed protocols for inducing and measuring hyperalgesia, and provides information on validation of these models. These models are useful for assessing new compounds for their analgesic activity in muscular pain.